Turkish Banks Hit by Cyber Attack Days After Anonymous Vows War

The Anonymous hacking collective claimed responsibility on Monday for taking down an estimated 400,000 Turkish domains in the December 14-21 Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

“They are not entering the bank’s system. They just create traffic prohibiting access,” the Hurriyet Daily News online publication quoted a senior level Turkish banker as saying. “To put it simply, they come to the door but do not enter.”

Another source told the newspaper the latest attacks were “not about money but rather an intervention to draw attention.”

Turk Telekom, the country’s leading internet provider, told the publication it expected another “big attack from both within and outside Turkey.” It said the necessary measures had been taken in preparation for the attacks.

Up to $685 million a day is generated from digital banking services, according to Hurriyet, 85 percent of which originate from mobile devices.

Anonymous said it waged an online war against Turkey over its alleged support for terrorist organizations, including buying oil from and hospitalizing Islamic State jihadist group (Daesh in Arabic) fighters. It warned Turkey’s airports, military assets, and government websites would be targeted if Ankara does not “stop this insanity” of backing Daesh.

The cyberattacks come amid a diplomatic standoff following the November 24 downing of a Russian jet by a Turkish fighter in Syria. Moscow has claimed the Turkish air force plane fired at the Russian Aerospace Forces Su-24 to protect terrorist supply routes.